JUNE 2021

The trial was live-streamed and still on YouTube.

Martha Moore, mother of Doc’s daughter, Trista, was scheduled to testify on the second day of the trial, but being too distraught, had to come back the third day. More composed this time, she was used by Cappleman in an attempt to make the jury think that it was unusual for Doc to have the kids by himself that day. 

After some preliminary questions, Cappleman asked, “How did you first learn of Mrs. Frasch’s death?”

Martha: Kendall called. 

Kendall had been the one to introduce Martha to Doc. Martha explained all of this to the jury.

Cappleman: Did you receive a call from the defendant on the morning that Mrs. Frasch’s body was discovered?

Martha: I did.

Cappleman: About what time did you receive that phone call?

Martha: I’m not sure about the exact time but I want to say around 8:30. It was morning. 

Cappleman: And where were you when you got that phone call?

Martha explained how due to it being her birthday, she had been heading home to West Palm to celebrate with family and friends. 

Cappleman: What was the nature of your relationship with Mr. Frasch at the time of the phone call?

Martha: We were co-parents.

Cappleman: So nothing romantic anymore?

Martha: No, no.

After establishing that there was no animosity between Martha and the Frasches, Cappleman moved on to how Martha had gotten emotional the day before. Martha said it was because she was overwhelmed.

Cappleman: Is that because Mr. Frasch is your child’s father?

Martha: Yes. 

Cappleman: Was there any animosity between you and Mrs. Frasch?

Martha: No.

Cappleman: Where was she from?

Martha: Where was she from? I guess, Madagascar. 

Cappleman: And you’ve talked to her before?

Martha: Early on. When my daughter was around two weeks.

The two women had met when Trista was two weeks old and sick. Martha had phoned Doc, concerned, wondering if she should take their baby to the hospital. Doc was newly married to Samira and the two of them had gone over to see baby Trista. 

Cappleman continued to ask Martha questions about Samira despite that the two women had had very little contact with one another after that first meeting. She was interested in other details about Doc’s life, rumours about a sex tape, for example. At one point, Doc’s lawyer objected with, “Hearsay!”

Cappleman: About how often did you talk to Mr. Frasch around this time frame?

Martha: Not as much, but we did keep in touch due to my daughter. 

Monthly, maybe, Martha estimated when Cappleman pushed on this. When Adam felt like calling or when Martha needed something. We were co-parents, Martha once again explained. As the mother of one of Doc’s children, perhaps this was why it was hoped that she would come across as somewhat of an authority about child-care and child custody issues.

Cappleman: And did he take your child places by himself?

Martha: No.

This was what Cappleman wanted the jury to hear. The impression Cappleman was hoping to make on the jury was that no woman would allow Doc to take off with her children, as he had claimed Samira had allowed him to do that morning. It was, however, a faulty generalization. Martha wasn’t the type of mother to let her toddler go anywhere without her. For one thing, Doc wasn’t a full-time dad with Trista. When Martha explained that Trista was just a baby, Cappleman said, she’s six now, she would have been four then—an exaggeration that Martha corrected by pointing out that it had been three years since Samira’s death, so Trista would have been only been going on three. So still two at the time.

But for the purposes of his 3850, Martha’s lengthy police interview was even more significant. Originally, Doc had been held in jail, not on charges of first-degree murder, but on charges of interference with child custody. However, in the end, he was able to demonstrate that he and Samira were reconciling at the time of her death. It wasn’t that Cappleman was unaware of this. Martha in her police interview had shared all she knew about what was going on in Doc’s life at the time, including that Samira had allowed her husband to return home. Furthermore, she gave an overview of the whole situation that included that Doc had had full custody of the children in the past and that it wasn’t unusual for him to bring the kids over to her place to play with their sister, Trista. She even referenced a time when they had all gone down together to Walt Disney World. Based on Martha’s police interview, Doc taking the kids to the family’s Panama City Beach home the day Samira died wasn’t unusual. 

At the time, Sergeant Hertz of the Leon County Sheriff’s office had asked, “I guess I’m saying, would it be not normal for him to take these kids off by himself and have to change diapers and bottle feed. Is that normal for him?”

Martha had replied, “When they were together, he took ‘em all, you know, before this happened and he would do it. He would do everything he had to do. Comb their hair. Remember, he had custody prior to her getting them back. So he did it all.” 

In her closing arguments, Cappleman gave Martha the credit for the idea that Doc and Samira were in a “battle” before her death. But this had not been part of Martha’s original statement. She had mentioned to the detectives that Adam was upset because he had missed a court hearing with his second wife, Tracey. As far as Samira was concerned, Martha had told them she didn’t think Adam would do anything to hurt her.